Monday, February 16, 2009

Honda Pilot Front Brake Pad DIY

I changed the front brake pads of my 2004 Honda Pilot this morning. The pilot has 40,000 miles on it. The new Prostop brake pads cost $19.25 including tax, which I bought from Pepboys.
I step on the manual brake to brake the car, open the lid of brake fluid container and then loose the five screws on the wheel helped by using a long metal pipe. I jack up the Pilot using the tools provided by the car. There are short metal pieces underneath the car for this purpose (don't use the door step portion). The suspension of the front wheel is flexible. The wheel does not immediately go up with the body of the car. The body of the car needs to be jacked up enough in order for the wheel to be off the ground. I take all screws off the wheel and take the wheel off.
There are two 12mm screws that hold the caliber. I use a circular wrench fitting in the tool box to unscrew them. The caliber needs to be supported after it is off the base. I then take the old brake pads off (the thickness is about 40% of that of the new pads) and put the new pads on. I use the brake tool to push the caliber piston back, put the caliber back over the new pads, then screw and tighten the two caliber screws. I put wheel on, screw on the five wheel screws by hand, lower the car and then firmly tighten the wheel screws.
I close the lid of brake fluid container, release the manual brake and step on the car brake several times to engage the new pads.
It takes me 2.5 hours to change brake pads on both front wheels. I watched a video and read a step-by-step instruction before the job.

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